The Human Heart
by Pyra250
Summary: "If this eye cannot see a thing, then it does not exist. What is this "heart"? If I tear open that chest of yours, will I see it there? If I smash open that skull of yours, will I see it there?" Ulquiorra's quest to understand what it means to have a heart.


**Warning: Contains certain spoilers. Don't read if you aren't past the Fake Karakura Town arc.**

_Author's Note: Generally, I don't write anything more than one-shot fanfics so this is something different. I also haven't written anything in probably a year so needless to say I'm quite rusty and out of practice. This plot is the only one I could think of to get back into writing so it's what I ran with. No idea how it will good/bad it will turn out. I always appreciate reviews and comments and any advice to help me improve. ^^_

A rain of spirit pressure hammered the landscape of Hueco Mundo above the dome of Las Noches as Ulquiorra Cifer revealed his second release form. As far away as Iza was from the actual fight, she could still feel the force of it wash over her. Quite impressive, she had to admit, but even that wouldn't be enough.

"Is it time yet?" the darkness around her whispered.

"Not yet. Almost."

The shadows shifted, thin wisps of consciousness, and twirled together. Bit by bit they took shape and built upon themselves until they developed mass and weight and took the form of a phoenix, so black that it could just barely be seen by the moonlight.

"You still think this human can win?" the phoenix asked, turning a gold eye to his companion.

"Of course," Iza replied off-hand, still watching the fight intently. A cedo erupted into the black causing her to instinctively shield her eyes from its unexpected brightness.

"It's not looking good for him."

Like a rag doll, Ichigo plummeted to the earth with a thud that even they could hear at this distance. He stayed there, unmoving.

"You know me, Kojiki. Always one for the underdog." Iza stamped her heel into the sand, moving it back and forth a few times and then squatting as she stuck her thumb in her mouth, picking at her front teeth. The Quincy had already picked up where the substitute soul reaper had left off, more so an underdog than he had been, but she wasn't all that interested in him. He was just something on the edge of her awareness. She was still watching Ichigo.

"He looks dead."

"Wait for it."

"What makes you so sure he'll win?"

"Because as analytical as Ulquiorra is, Ichigo has something that he would never have accounted for."

"Oh? What's that?"

Iza smirked slightly as she lowered her thumb from her mouth. "A human heart."

Even as she said it, she could feel his heart rate quickening. What once had just barely kept him alive was beginning to throb with a new passion and another wave of spirit energy swept over the landscape as Ichigo transformed. Iza could feel Orihime's tears—tears for Ichigo. Tears from the heart, for the heart. As long as she'd been at this, she knew that's all it took sometimes.

From the start, Iza imagined this wouldn't be a drawn out battle, though it ended a lot quicker than she had expected. She had underestimated Ichigo's power, or perhaps overestimated Ulquiorra's. Either way, the outcome had been the same.

Iza slowly stood, grunting as she pushed off of her knees. Below her and in the distance, she knew Ulquiorra was slowly dying and with every passing second more of him would become a part of Hueco Mundo. He would return to that which he came from.

"Is it time yet?" Kojiki asked as the remnants of what had once been Ulquiorra Cifer were spread to the wind.

"Yes." Swiftly, Iza drew her zanpakuto from her waist and held it straight up in the air over her head, the blade cradled between her first and second fingers and the hilt resting in her palm with the point toward the ground. "Scatter, Kojiki."

The phoenix beside her disappeared as the sword in her hand slowly disintegrated, scattering pieces of itself to the wind. Even though Iza could no longer see it, she knew that he would be stealing from Hueco Mundo the bits of Ulquiorra's essence that it had already claimed.

As it did so, a figure started to emerge in front of her, first the feet and working its way up, bit by bit to the mask and the single remaining horn. Then the green eyes opened and the sword reformed in Iza's hand, its job finally finished.

"It's nice to meet you at last, Ulquiorra Cifer."


End file.
